When Harris Brokke took the helm of the Maturango Museum in 2008, it had just entered into a period of expansion and growth.

After six years as executive director — and a 50-year career in customer or management services — Brokke steps down in May.

“It’s been a lot of fun, and obviously lots of different kinds of work but a wonderful group of people to work with,” Brokke said Friday.

A soft-spoken, affable personality combined with a talent for strategic planning and marketing has helped Brokke raise awareness about the museum.

It’s a talent that comes from 50 years in various management roles for telecommunications, appliance manufacturing, and as a quality consultant all over North America — and one he brought to the Maturango Museum.

“When I was young, I never figured I work as in a management role for a museum, but it’s been wonderful,” Brokke said.

Brokke boiled everything down to quality service and products, and the ability to work with other people.

“Here at the museum, it’s different. Our product is providing excellent concerts, lectures, art exhibits, and a gift shop that frankly rivals no other in town,” Brokke said.

Evolution on the museum

Brokke said the growth of the Maturango Museum from a small facility with an interior “that looked like something a drunken sailor put together” to a more practical and beneficial space has been incredible.

The Maturango Museum completed its first phase of expansion in 2013, unveiling a new gift shop and management areas, and giving it a fresh perspective.

Brokke expects the second phase, which will include a gallery space three times the size of the current one, to be complete in 2014 after the museum collects some additional funds.

The new gallery will allow the museum to hold more art shows and display more works by local artists. Given its planned size, the new art gallery can host more people when the Maturango puts on concerts.

“Everything that is happening is good for the museum and good for the community, and we’re finding a lot of new couples and people joining the museum as members because they walk in and say, ‘This is wonderful, we want to be a part of it,’” Brokke said.

However, Brokke gave credit of expansion to the planners who got the ball rolling long before he signed on.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to be part of helping managing the expansion and helping it happen, along with a lot of people from our building committee, our strategic plan committee,” Brokke said.

Page 2 of 3 - The Maturango also has a constantly updated long-term plan to develop 13 acres it controls, including the eventual expansion of a garden, a scaled-down model of Little Petroglyph Canyon onboard Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, and a children’s area.

Of course, nothing comes without challenges, but Brokke said they were more like opportunities than roadblocks.

“If it’s easy, anybody can do it,” Brokke said. “Some things are a little more difficult, and I’d like to think it takes a talent to facilitate being successful at an endeavor.”

He recognized that not everyone will agree on a design, that it is always a challenge to raise funding for the museum’s expansion. However, everything has a process, especially when it leads to a product that the museum can be proud of and the community can enjoy.

“Those are all challenges, but they are fun because if you work through the challenges and end up coming up with a great product, that’s a great family,” Brokke said.

Community involvement

Brokke’s involvement with the museum extends into the community. In addition to acting as the Museum’s spokesperson up and down California, he’s active on the Ridgecrest Area Convention and Visitors Bureau’s board of directors, a Ridgecrest Chamber of Commerce Ambassador and community volunteer.

“I love this community, I like the people, and it’s kind of fun to be involved,” Brokke said simply. “I’m not one to just stay home … working with people in the community is just fun, so why not do any fun.”

Brokke has helped coordinate the Wildflower Festival during its three-year run, once calling it the signature event for Ridgecrest. Brokke also pushed for the upcoming rock art festival in the second week of November.

Good memories

Presiding over the museum has left an impact on Brokke, whether it’s the petroglyph tours, helping with the expansion or speaking with his board members.

Brokke boiled one set of memories down to two words: Carroll Evans.

“Everything about him was wonderful,” Brokke said.

Evans, a long-time museum patron, died in June 2012.

“Carroll was a very wonderful man,” Brokke said. “He would come around, sit in the chair, and just chat … He would always start off with ‘I know you don’t want to hear this but …‘ and would just chat for the next 15 to 30 minutes.”

Other memories boiled down to working with his board and staff, as well as the community leaders.

“The board of trustees are great group,” Brokke said. “They don’t just come to a meeting once a month like some boards do. They pitch in and help with things like the garden.”

Page 3 of 3 - Winding down

Brokke said that after 50 years of working, there comes a time to set aside personal time and explore things one wants to do.

“I hate to leave, but I’ve been working for 50 years, and that frankly is long enough,” Brokke said with a chuckle.

With retirement on the horizon, Brokke said he and his wife, Pat, plan to visit family and travel.

“There’s just so much to see in California, Arizona and Nevada, and it will be nice to not live by the clock,” Brokke said.

Brokke said that while he isn’t sure whether he and his wife will be leaving the community, they won’t wander far.

“If we do move, we certainly will miss people because we have so many friends that I can’t even count them,” Brokke said. “We will not go far that we can’t come back and visit several times a year … It’s going to be hard to leave the museum because the day-to-day interactions with people is fun and is a great way to spend my time.”

Brokke sees the Museum continuing its goal of drawing people to the area and facilitating various events. After 50 years of careers that rely on people and customer service, he stressed it was important.

“When people come and see something, they talk to a lot of people when they go home,” Brokke said. “If they have a good time, they talk about that, if they have a bad time it’s kind of like eating in a restaurant and getting a bad meal — you’ll talk to people about that.”

For the museum to continue that model is important.

“The image we have and the way we do customer service is important, not only to the people that live in town but to the visitors that come in,” Brokke said.